WORLD SQUASH NEWS

Power In Five-Day Double Title Bid

World No4 Jonathon Power, North America's most successful squash player of all-time, is mounting a bid to win two PSA Tour titles within five days in the USA.

The former world champion from Montreal in Canada, eager to regain the world No1 ranking he first achieved in May 1999, will be aiming to win his third US Open title this month at the Symphony Hall in Boston - and five days later lift the Motor City Open trophy in Detroit.

Power, often dubbed the 'John McEnroe of Squash', is seeded to face career-long rival Peter Nicol in the US Open semi-finals.  Victory would not only extend the Canadian's head-to-head tally over the world No1 from England to 18-16, but also take him into his sixth US Open final since 1997. 

The following day (Wednesday 17th September), top seed Power begins his assault on the Motor City Open title with a first round match against a qualifier - and is expected to reach the final three days later, when his anticipated opponent would be No2 seed Thierry Lincou, the Frenchman ranked one place lower in the world.

"First and foremost, Jonathon really wants to help grow squash in North America," said Power's manager Jason Matthison.  "He really feels that the North American squash market has a lot of growth potential for the future of squash and being in his backyard wants to help out in anyway possible.

"They have a good tournament in Detroit and there have been talks of eventually getting it to a 4 or 5 star level.  Due specifically to Jonathon's involvement this year, they have now bumped it up to 3 stars. 

"Timing could have been a little bit better," Matthison conceded.  "But in the end, winning two tournaments within five days would be a great achievement and something he is now gunning for."

Power has no plans to rest on his laurels after his US title bids.  The 29-year-old heads straight for Nottingham in England where he competes in the British Open from 01-05 October.  The 1999 champion is the fourth seed.